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Sept. 2, 2010
A "static kill" at the BP/Transocean well site continues to prevent new oil from gushing into the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Next comes the "bottom kill," where a drilled relief well will be used to pump in mud and cement. Exact timing for completion of the "bottom kill," the final step, is not known, but officials targeted early September as the end date several months ago.
Meanwhile the risk remains "extremely low" for near-term Transocean/BP oil spill pollution threats to the Florida Keys and South Florida, according to officials involved in response efforts and, in fact, since the April 20 explosion, the Keys have not been physically impacted by the spill.
"There (was) an eddy (Eddy Franklin) that (broke_ off from the Loop Current between the wellhead and where the current come north and turns towards the Straits of Florida," said former Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the national incident commander. "So (that) eddy created a hydraulic barrier between the well head and the loop current and the chances that oil will become entrained in the Loop Current are very, very low and will go to zero as we continue to control the leakage at the well with the cap and ultimately kill it."
Further exemplifying Allen's point is that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has not produced oil spill trajectory for more than two months and even nearshore trajectory maps are not plotting anymore recoverable oil in the northern Gulf of Mexico near the well site.
Allen's full comments can be heard in a video to the left of this story.
There remain no advisories recommending against travel to the Florida Keys or any other precautions advising visitors and residents not to engage in fishing, diving, swimming or other water sports, according to the Monroe County Health Department. Seafood from Florida Keys waters is safe to eat, officials said.
On Aug. 27, NOAA reopened a larger portion of the Gulf of Mexico previously closed to recreational and commercial fishing. The closest point of the closure to the Keys is more than 270 miles to the northwest of Key West.
Additional details on efforts to mitigate the oil spill are on these official Web sites:
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
NOAA
Deep Water Horizon Response
Florida Oil Spill Hotline (8 a.m.- 6 p.m.): 1-888-337-3569
More than 40 web cams streaming live video from the Keys’ waters, shorelines and area attractions are also available for the public to view.
Information is also available at Twitter and Facebook.
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